WebdevtutsMaking tutorials fun and easy!2015-03-27T15:15:57Zhttp://www.webdevtuts.net/feed/atom/webdevtutshttp://www.webdevtuts.nethttp://www.webdevtuts.net/?p=38372015-03-27T15:15:57Z2015-03-27T14:53:08ZView Article]]>There’s nothing more annoying than coming across a website that seems more like a scavenger hunt than an information resource. When visitors come across such sites, they say, “I am not accessing this site again!”

This is exactly something that you don’t want your target audience to think of your website.

Your company’s website is one of the most essential marketing tools that help establish your business’s credibility and reach out to a wider audience. Inevitably, at times it is natural to get caught up in making the website more visually appealing and overlooking its usability.

There are businesses out there who think a site that looks good is best placed to make the right impression on its target audience. But they are wrong. It’s a site that offers a highly satisfying user experience (UX) that helps promote your brand effectively.

Your main objective should be to build a website that is functional and easily accessible to your customers. Only then can it lead to an increase in conversions.

Here’s a list of six major concepts that play a pivotal role in the creation of a user-friendly website.

Plain and endless text is not something your users are looking forward to. According to reports, users often leave web pages in 10-20 seconds, but pages with a clear value proposition can hold people’s attention for much longer. So, make sure that you keep your content clear and concise throughout your website.

Relevant information regarding your products and services is of utmost importance. The content needs to clearly answer all the questions your users might have. It is through focused content that you can keep your target audience engaged. The visitors not only end up becoming your customers but they also help in bringing more business through social mentions and references.

Break up text into lists, use correct headings, sub-headings and paragraphs. All of it will help the reader quickly go through your website and access the information they need. Delivering clear content is the stepping stone to making your website more user-friendly.

Slow loading pages can easily chase your users away. This can certainly be avoided if your website loads within 4 to 6 seconds. What’s more, speeding up your website will also help in improving your search engine ranking. Ensuring users get their jobs done, as soon as they land on your web page should truly be an essential feature of your website.

There are various factors that influence your website’s speed such as number and size of images and pages, use of Flash animation and the amount of excess code.

Multimedia takes up a lot of space and bandwidth. So better resist the temptation to make your website more enticing by putting a lot of multimedia files on your website.

Research shows 30 percent of online shoppers will abandon a purchase transaction if the shopping cart isn’t optimized for mobile phones. This figure in itself is enough to let us conclude that a mobile optimized website has become the order of the day.

Mobile users will refuse to stay on a website if it requires add-ons to display in a browser or if they have to constantly squint to go through illegible text. Now with one-quarter of global web searches conducted on a mobile device, it is tremendously important to have a mobile friendly website and to reduce the bounce rate.

Call to action (CTA) is a very powerful design element that should not be overlooked. It is the use of words or graphics or both that point out the next logical step to the user. By adding CTA in the right places, there can be a significant increase in the conversion rates.

Research says that users are more likely to act when they are prompted to do so. Make sure that you add these psychological cues for your users. Don’t let your CTA sound ambiguous. You need to sound assertive and confident in your CTA. Only then will they help in reinforcing the desired action from potential customers.

Last but not the least; credibility plays a very crucial role in your website. Introducing yourself and letting the users know about what your company does in the ‘About us’ page will help in building brand credibility. And remember, this page should mention what you do succinctly and in an interesting manner.

Many ‘About Us’ pages fail on this front!

One of the most compelling ways to do so is to tell a story, one that talks about how and when your business came into being. Stories are very effective in establishing a strong sense of connection.

You need to let your target audience know that you are a real company with real people-not some cyber thief hiding behind their computer screens. Don’t let your users become skeptical about you. Ultimately, this is all about building trust. This page should clearly reflect your business’ personality.

Conclusion

Your website allows your target audience to get a better idea about your business and all that it stands for. It also plays the role of your business’s presence in the online world. You must do everything you can to make sure your online presence is liked and appreciated by your audience. Failure is not an option.

Author Bio:

Michael Georgiou is a dynamic business professional and entrepreneurial guru associated with Imaginovation – Web Design Company in Raleigh who has proven his success in creative strategy, online branding, project management, and communication projects in both the public and private sectors.

]]>0webdevtutshttp://www.webdevtuts.nethttp://www.webdevtuts.net/?p=37812015-03-15T00:04:47Z2015-03-14T23:29:58ZView Article]]>The World Wide Web is home to a staggering 1 billion plus websites. Imagine the level of competition that your website faces in your business domain. With numerous websites to visit, skippers (hurried visitors) might not find your website at all or even if they do, they might choose moving to some other site straightaway.

It’s imperative that you are able to grab visitors’ attention as soon as they land up on your website. For this to happen, your website should be captivating.

How do you build a website that captivates and convinces your audience to spend more time going through its information?

Here are a few important tips to keep in mind for creating a jaw-dropper of a website.

Good Design is Paramount

The first thing that greets a visitor when they open your site is its design. This design is made up of shapes, which can be geometric, organic or abstract. A few words on each of them before we move ahead:

Geometric Shapes: Basic shapes like squares, circles, triangles and rectangles give better user experience. Tavo is a website which has a captivating geometric design and typography.

Organic Shapes: They are opposite to geometric shapes; more of natural shapes like clouds, raindrop leaves etc. The kind you find in your natural environment.

(Image credit: http://www.cult-f.net/)

Look at the header in the above website; it has organic design elements like birds, clouds and flowers that are interlaced with pink-colored square patterns.

Abstract Shapes: They really don’t exist and are a figment of imagination. Glyph typography or even icons are fine examples of abstract shapes.

Interlacing a contrasting shape in overall design layout will catch the attention of impatient visitors as they scan your website; and a striking color will make it more noticeable. Put the most important content there.

(Image credit: http://www.orangelabel.com/)

Look at the three yellow colored elements, boxed against a contrasting background. The content in the boxes stands out from the surrounding design elements –it is highly visible and readable.

You can use geometric, abstract and organic shapes in tandem to create great visuals that attract attention. Increase visual interest in your content by skillfully mixing up different shapes as shown below:

It would be a good idea to use a geometric frame as an outline to showcase organic shape as depicted in the above image. The rectangular outline shows collections of organic shapes including the sun, which together give the impression of a human skull.

One important thing – Do not forget your mobile users. Make your web design responsive so that the fun continues from the desktop to mobile and vice versa.

Embed Interactive Features

Your website must contain interactive user features. They have loads of engagement potential which provides better user experience and keep visitors on your site longer, increasing chances of getting more subscribers, leads, or sales. If you design them well, you’ll have a winning website on your hands. Websites missing such dynamic elements can actually repel your visitors, so always keep the possibility of using interactive elements in mind when designing your website.

So, how can you make your design interactive?

Use animation to captivate visitors, but refrain from using very flashy elements or numerous sliding panels. Look at Twitter’s “Fail Whale” animation and you will understand how animation can catch visitor attention.

Add dynamic sliders that slide content, images or videos on the screen. Catch the attention with fancy drop down effects. Make the web page clutter-free with collapsible side bars (left or right) so that the right content appears when needed.

Add a video. It can be about your product, your client speak (testimonial), a premises tour or an introduction – anything that communicates in person to your customers. This level of personalization is needed to create an emotional connection and a video is one of the ideal mediums for this purpose.

This has been so nicely done on rewatchable.com.

A word of advice with regard to visual content – upload big, realistic pictures where needed because they impress and convince.

Add Trusted Touch points

Customer feedback in the form of video testimonials, polls, customer logos, customer review badges, media mentions (brand citations), etc., are critical design elements of your website. If you are ignoring them, you are making a big mistake.

Let video testimonials speak for you

Happy clients are your best brand ambassadors. Give them prominence on your website. Get a few authentic client-speak videos and embed them where every visitor can see them. If you are embedding comments (text only) then pair them with friendly-looking pictures of respective customers along with their name, position, organization and location so that everything appears authentic.

Embed customer logos

Since, customer content is one of the most sought after information on your site to measure the levels of quality of your product or services, it is in the best interest of your business to use customer logos on your website.

See how Basecamp has used customer logos (many of them are the world’s leading brands) effectively on its website.

So wise up and use them as creatively as Basecamp has.

Social Media Engagement should Get Prominence

You simply cannot ignore social media in your website design. Show all the good things your customers have been saying about your products/services in the form of Tweets or Facebook likes or LinkedIn shares.

OREO has been able to implement a great social experience on its home page. The social media share numbers will definitely impress all new website visitors!

Navigation should Complement Design

Look at the tree frog website and see the circular navigation buttons right on top of the website. Their color resembles the color of the frog, their brand ambassador. The navigation is easy and nicely fits the overall website layout.

(Image credit: http://alexarts.ru/en/index.html)

Alexa Arts is another great example of geometric shapes put to good use in the navigation.

Customer Reviews Badge and Media Citations

If you have good third party reviews do not ignore them; rather, try to integrate these badges into your website design. Place them strategically and see the jump in number of prospects who will come inquiring about your business.

Get that badge on your website; it is your conversion funnel.

Typography must Honor Content and Design

Do not overload text; just balance it with the design. Instead, use minimal text for maximum impact on users.

Well-crafted, crispy but short messages, in which every word tells a story, are needed to create an emotional connection. But if the correct typography isn’t used, it will not create the kind of impact you want. So make sure you have the right typography for your content.

Text, graphics, video, animation, layout, user experience are all subsets of design. So, if you really want to captivate your visitors and turn them into buyers, you need to sincerely invest your time, effort and resources into honing your website design to perfection.

Author Bio:

Michael Georgiou is a dynamic business professional and entrepreneurial guru associated with Imaginovation – Web Design Company in Raleigh who has proven his success in creative strategy, online branding, project management, and communication projects in both the public and private sectors.

]]>0webdevtutshttp://www.webdevtuts.nethttp://www.webdevtuts.net/?p=37722015-02-10T20:22:47Z2015-02-02T10:50:27ZView Article]]>Don’t miss your chance to get the biggest design bundles ever at an incredible low price! This brand-new bundle contains thousands of different design resources worth an incredible $15,000! Everything you could possibly need is in this Big Bang Bundle – from vectors to PS addons, fonts and even tutorials!

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10 Responsive HTML Themes, branded WowThemesNet, featured as high quality premium items, modern and well documented. Normally you would have to pay for the extended license of this collection a total of $200, but you can get them now for $29 only.

]]>0webdevtutshttp://www.webdevtuts.nethttp://www.webdevtuts.net/?p=37622015-01-22T07:22:27Z2015-01-22T07:22:27ZView Article]]>With the augmenting mobile commerce, it has become extremely essential for organizations to seriously consider the mobile channel along with the web channel. It not only allows businesses to conveniently reach a colossal mobile audience base, but also facilitates them to embrace an impressive and trendy visual appeal.

With the proliferation of mobile devices including several web browsers, screen sizes, OS, etc., it has become essential to efficiently reach a wider consumer base. Indubitably, the web applications offer a surefire solution while enabling the businesses to efficiently reach over the distinct mobile devices with a single app. It thus saves a heck lot of development time, efforts and valuable money. Moreover, it ensures a sustainable success to businesses by targeting multiple platforms at once. Therefore, it can be anticipated that the web app development is surely going to rule the ground in the future.

There is a plethora of frameworks available in the market that ensures a convenient mobile app development. Here in this article, I am going to offer you an insight into an ultimate mobile web framework, popularly known as ChocolateChip-UI. This proficient framework is primarily famous in lending a native look to web applications.

Let’s explore it.

ChocolateChip-UI framework: A Foreword

Developing a strong web application that boasts impressive visual appeal and superior functionalities is not an easy meat. However, with a granular and thought-out approach will definitely rule everything out. The Chocolate Chip UI is a powerful framework that is designed to make the cumbersome task of creating a ravishing web application easier. It delivers outstanding performance and ensure an incredible solution.

Most interestingly, this framework is ideal for generating web application that behaves like a native application. That is, it offers web applications with a look and feel of built-in applications. Moreover, it supports the popular iOS 7, Android and Windows 8 Phone platforms. Thus, by creating an application via this framework, you can easily target the a gigantic mobile user base.

What makes it stand ahead of the other frameworks is that this amazing cross platform framework is the first one to offer an impressive look and feel of iOS 7 in an absolute fashion. And, like general web applications, it also comprises the three typical components including, JavaScript, CSS and HTML 5 markup.

The Chocolate Chip UI offers a plethora of resourceful features that you may use while creating your web app. Whether you want to integrate segmented control, select list, take the range input, or anything else, it offers a user-friendly interface and facilitates a slew of easy to integrate attributes. This framework is absolutely simple to deploy.

Here are a few of the worthy offerings of this open source web app development framework that amazingly add to its credibility.

It comes complete with an overwhelming list of widgets to choose from. Therefore, you may choose a desired one from the available options.

Moreover, you can efficiently create layouts of your choice by simply implementing the CSS animations.

By tweaking the JavaScript appropriately, you can tailor the look and feel of your application in a desired manner to efficiently endeavor to achieve your business goals.

This framework delivers lightweight application that consumes minimal size. Thus, apps created with the Chocolate Chip UI framework are optimized to load instantly. Since, with mobile devices, app loading time is a crucial aspect, this feature makes it stand ahead of its competitors.

It includes the basic web app development components namely CSS, JavaScript and HTML 5 that are commonly known by the most of the web developers.

The ultimate documentation of the framework makes it extremely convenient for the novice developers to get started. It is easily readable and understandable.

It supports multiple languages including Urdu, Arabic, English, etc., which add to its versatility.

Since no extraneous code in included by the Chocolate Chip UI, you can easily personalize your app.

Final Thought

Note that, this is not a marketing ploy to promote the Chocolate Chip UI framework.

Bagged with a list of utile widgets and plugins, and designed to diminish the web app development woes, the Chocolate Chip UI framework augments cross-platform mobile app development. For the folks seeking for an impressive native visual appeal for their web apps, this framework stands true to deliver surefire results.

Author Bio:

Victoria Brinsley is an experienced mobile app programmer for Appsted Ltd – a leading Android app developing company. In case, you want to learn more about the development process, get in touch with her. She would love to explore his knowledge and experience.

Web design is a prominent and promising field to work in, but it is a fast changing and evolving branch that goes through changes a lot. However, it is important to notice the trends that will come out in order to stay ahead of competition. Moreover, be prepared to learn and adapt quickly, as it is a necessary skill to stay in the web design game. The new year will definitely bring about changes that will greatly influence the Internet and how we use it.

Keep the design human

It is important to realize that even though web design is about creating the perfect web page, it does not mean that everything has to be computer made. Creating letters, and special font as part of the responsive web design is crucial; it will mean that the designers poured in their time and effort to create a webpage of good quality. Remember that behind every hand lettering there is a talented web designer, and it is not part of a computer generated font.

Creating unique navigation menus

Navigation menus are usually the part that leaves the first impression, and in order to have people come back to the page, it is important to create truly great and unique navigational menus. With new technologies at the web designers’ disposal it is easy to create engaging and interesting webpages that will guarantee clicks and visits. However, it is important to utilize the new and dynamic animations and menu options.

The Internet is now accessible by almost everyone who has some kind of an electrical device capable of going online. Web design should make new pages so that they can be part of omni channel retailing. For designers it is imperative that they incorporate responsive and dynamic design into their creation; otherwise they will be left behind by the fierce competition. In essence, designers will have to rethink their approach to how webpages are created.

Make the illustrations count

Although it is possible to create digital images, hand-drawn illustrations are more valued in web design as they add an element of the human touch. Moreover, by implementing this, it is possible to give the website more unique connection with the visitors; making every experience truly unique and different than the previous one. Furthermore, hand-drawn design is always a great way to spice up any website, as it will make it more appealing to the customers.

AI driven web design

Perhaps the most innovative trend to gain speed is an AI driven web designer. Although it is feared that these software could take over the design industry, it is only meant to be developed in order to help the ways of web design in general. Their purpose is only to make creating webpages easier and more efficient; and the software is used to generate a flexible output of design based on the content that was used. Smarter design tools are developed in order to help web designers.

About the author: Dan Radak is Web Hosting security professional, with ten-year experience. Currently collaborate with a number of companies in the field of online security, closely collaborating with a couple of e-commerce companies. Also he is a co-author on several technology websites. In his free time, he likes traveling.

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]]>0webdevtutshttp://www.webdevtuts.nethttp://www.webdevtuts.net/?p=37432015-01-14T07:12:02Z2015-01-14T07:12:02ZView Article]]>Every Apple iOS release brings along a wide array of improvements in terms of app and icon design strategies. Whether you are planning to build a simple, straightforward app icon or want to opt for developing an app icon that’s been loaded with eye-catchy embellishments; there’s a design strategy which you need to follow without fail. With the recently released iOS7 version, you can get a whole new direction for developing flat and thin design style iOS7 app icons. This blog serves as a quick guide for all the readers who’re about to venture into the world of iOS7 app icon designing.

Tip#1- Stay informed about what others are doing

As one of the most fundamental activities that need to be performedfor coming up with an absolutely appealing iOS7 app icon is conducting a detailed research. Prior to starting off with the iOS icon designing task, it is recommended to get a vibe of what your competitors are doing. Check out for the app icon designing trends that are being followed by other iOS designers. Also, make a good note of the iconography that’s being followed by your fellow designers. This will allow you to fetch some great ideas for your iOS7 app icon designing project.

Tip#2-Make an appropriate use of grid

A huge majority of Apple iOS designers has been benefited from the use of a grid layout.If you too are planning to build an iOS7 app that looks unified on the app’s home screen, then you should proceed ahead with the use of a grid. Moreover, you may also opt for breaking the grid to go ahead with customizing the icon your way.

Tip#3- Pay attention to the count of characters that need to go into the app icon’s name

It is crucial to note that the default text size for an app icon name has slightly changed in iOS7, as compared to the one followed in iOS6.For example, if your app icon name contains a space, then it is advised to replace the regular space with a thinner space.

Tip#4- Include the use of recognizable metaphors

Since the icons are seen as smaller sized objects, it is always better to stick to usage of one of two easily recognizable metaphors.That means, you can opt for using a 100% unique color for your iOS7 icon. One important point to be noted here is that the metaphor should be easily recognized via its specific identity and its working. Proficient iOS7 icon designers also emphasize on performing a good research on the colors and metaphors that need to be included within the icon. All this will ensure that the users need not enter into any sort of guess work when it comes to distinguishing your app icon from a crowd of iOS7 app icons available in the market.

Tip#5- Avoid including a glossy effect in your iOS7 app icon

If you have been into a regular habit of using a glossy effect in your iOS app icons, then it is recommended to eliminate the usage of the same while designing app icons for iOS7. The reason for this being that the UIPrerenderedIcon key(also called the “Icon already includes gloss effect”) doesn’t have any meaning in iOS7. However, if you still want a glossy effect in your iOS7 app icon, you just need to embed the same in your chosen set of app icon resources.

Tip#6- Go ‘Bold’ with your app icon’s contrast

As a healthy approach to designing an icon that can gather many eye-balls, you need to go ‘bold’ with your icon’s contrast. By using a bold contrast in your iOS app icon designs, you can add a tint of brightness and fun into your icons. Whether it’s about marking bright boundaries, using expressive colors or clear lines; as an iOS7 icon designer, you need to pay individual attention to each and every tweak that is being made to the icon’s overall design.

Summing it all up

Seeking perfection during iOS7 app icon design process isn’t a new line of thinking. Every iOS7 designer actually wants his/her app icon to stand out from a crowd and for this he/she is willing to go beyond boundaries. With the above mentioned handy tips, I’m quite sure developing an awesome app icon for iOS7 powered devices won’t appear as a nightmare anymore.

Author Bio:

Rick Brown is a veteran iOS programmer for Mobiers Ltd – a renowned iOS app development company. He can also assist you the best in case you are looking forward to explore more about iPhone app development technology.

]]>0webdevtutshttp://www.webdevtuts.nethttp://www.webdevtuts.net/?p=37392015-01-13T08:14:35Z2015-01-12T12:38:26ZView Article]]>Three premium WordPress themes are up for grabs, and you could be the winner of one of them.

ThemeFuse is giving away the themes, and they have a great selection. Their designs are made for professionals but they are easy to use and anyone can get take advantage of what they have to offer. If you’re in the market for a great theme for your WordPress site, this is a contest you do not want to miss out on.

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